Meetings + Events

Interactive teambuilding exercises to help colleagues work smarter, communicate better and create together

By Doug O’Neill

Escape the Museum
Ottawa

The world-renown Canadian Museum of Nature in Ottawa has partnered with the Escape Manor franchise to create two innovative nature-based Escape experiences that place participants in a time machine. “Back to the Fossils” pits participants against dinosaurs as they flee to safety during the Jurassic and Cretaceous Periods. “Framed” invites par­ticipants to explore the museum’s Mammal Gallery and find the truth before an innocent person is locked away.
Groups: Customizable group menus are also available, and there’s bus parking for convention-goers. nature.ca 

Museum of Illusions
Toronto

Curators at the recently opened museum aim to challenge participants with sensory, optical and mind-bending illusions. Are your team members brave enough to jump into an illusion created by the Vortex Tunnel? Or daring enough to see themselves on the ceiling of a room? Imagine the reaction if colleagues saw the marketing director’s head on a platter. Worry not. They’re all illusions and games that “will break your mind but simulta­neously make you smarter.”
Groups: Advance notice of 14 days is required for groups. museumofillusions.ca

Ice sculpting
Montreal

Past corporate clients have used the group ice sculpting as an ice breaker for large conferences where attendees don’t necessarily know one another. This interactive exercise requires no skill or artistic talent—nor electric saws. Teams are supplied with gloves, chisels and huge blocks of ice. Participants must collaborate to determine design and artistry—and how they can chisel and sculpt as a team.
Groups: Staff can tailor sculpting sessions for groups of 8 to 250. teambonding.com/programs/ice-sculpting 

Junkyard Orchestra
Vancouver

The goal of Junkyard Orchestra is for teams to find their rhythm as a group during a musical exercise using items rescued from the junkyard. Corporate teams break into groups to collaborate on a piece of music produced not on keyboards or drums but improvising with buckets, paint brushes, discarded tools, disused garden hoses, etc. Facilitators encourage aspiring musicians to warm up on their instrument of choice and then, as a team, strive for a collective beat as groups try to outperform one another.
Groups: Facilitators encourage a three-pil­lar approach to this interactive exercise: “Creative, Collaborative and Skill-oriented.” outbackteambuilding.com/ca 

Domino Effect Challenge
Halifax

The aim of the game? Teams must build a gigantic “chain-reaction” machine and set it in motion. Quick thinking and collabora­tion are key when teams are presented with last-minute wild-card additions of seem­ingly odd materials and objects. The results sometimes look like they’ve been created in a mad scientist’s toy shop.
Groups: Participants work in teams of 2 to 8.
outbackteambuilding.com/ca

Flying Squirrel Sports
Calgary

A member of the International Association of Trampoline Parks, Flying Squirrel Sports in Calgary is one of the world’s largest indoor trampoline parks. The adrenaline-pumping activities include the 3-D climbing wall, the free-style slack line, tumbling tracks and the laser maze. The latter interac­tivity requires participants to navigate through a room criss-crossed with lasers without tripping into one of them. There’s also the dodgeball court (a hit for corporate groups), foam pit, the slam dunk court and a trampoline for adults to show off their best aerial acrobatics. It’s competitive and fun.
Groups: Various packages are available, such as The Super Fly Party package, which accommodates 20 participants. Inquire in advance about packages for larger groups. flyingsquirrelsports.ca